Business Briefs

DURHAM – BioCryst Pharmaceuticals reported a narrower net loss of $4.5 million in the first quarter compared with the same quarter last year.

The company’s revenues were down 70 percent to $3.6 million and its research and development expenses were down 52 percent to $7.4 million. The company’s general and administrative expenses were down 17 percent to $1.4 million, primarily due to a corporate restructuring in December.

The declines in both company revenues and expenses were influenced by the stop in enrollment in the clinical trial for the company’s intravenous flu vaccine candidate, peramivir.

The company was developing peramivir under a $234.8 million contract from the Biomedical Advanced Research Development Authority of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The company received a stop-work order for peramivir from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under its federal contract, except for certain activities related to a meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Federal officials said in a meeting in April that BioCryst has a reviewable new drug application submission for the indication of acute uncomplicated influenza for the candidate.

“We are pleased that our recent interactions with the FDA have defined a pathway to file a peramivir NDA for regulatory approval in the U.S.,” said Jon P. Stonehouse, president and CEO of BioCryst, in a news release.